Blogging on QCA

Introduction: What is Blogging?

2009-06-24T18:01:00Z

The blog has been a key tool for news commentary for years, but popular networks such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter have popularized the desire of everyday people like you and me to share information with others about our interests and lives. At Quilters Club of America, we want you to get your feet wet in the "blogosphere," and have the opportunity to share with other quilters in a way you may have never done before!

By creating your own blog, you will have the opportunity to share ideas, musings, tips and even photos of your work (and sewing space, and pets, and family members, and...). Your blog is an organized, central location for all of this information - and it makes it easy for others to enjoy what you post and to interact with you by leaving comments.

"What could I possibly have to say that others would be interested in?" you might be asking yourself. "A lot!" is our response.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

showcase your most recent projects
share your successes stories (and even your mistakes....others may learn from them!)
show pictures of your sewing space and discuss how you organize your materials (and where you hide the chocolate!)
solicit some opinions on new project ideas
share tips and techniques from which you know other quilters would benefit
give updates on what your guild is doing
share special quilt-related stories and memories like who inspired you to quilt and when you made your first quilt

Can you see that the possibilities are endless? And what's great about a blog is that you don't have to write a single thing! It can have lots and lots of pictures. And in a visual community like ours, I'm sure you can see the benefit in that.

To put this in "real-world" terms, here are some links right here within our QCA site - some of these blogs are by folks behind the scenes at QCA, and some are by members just like you.

Jodie's Blog

gini's blog

A few more terms to get familiar with before we start: when you clicked on one of the above links, you went to the blog homepage. There, you saw a list of posts or post list. When you clicked on one of the post titles, you were then in the post itself and able to comment on that post.

OK. Let's get started.

Click on any of the steps below:

Step One: Create Your Blog

Step Two: Using the Control Panel

Step Three: Rename Your Blog

Step Four: Write a Post

Step 5: Add a Picture, Video or Link to Your Post

Step Six: Edit or Delete Your Post

Frequently Asked Questions

Step One: Create Your Blog

2009-06-24T17:59:00Z

1) Log in to your member homepage

2) In the My Profile box (center of page), click on Create Blog. This will open a new window that reads: "Your Username's" Blog. It's that easy! You have just created your blog.

Note: If you see a link that says My Blog instead of Create Blog, it just means that you have already created it (and may not have even known it!) Just click on My Blog.

3) Once you click on Create Blog or My Blog, you are on the homepage of your blog and ready to go to the next step.

Click here for Step Two: Using the Control Panel

Step Two: Using the Control Panel

2009-06-24T17:53:00Z

1) Go to your blog homepage. Look on the right for the Control Panel link under the Shortcuts header.

2) Click on Control Panel. This will open a new window displaying a visual representation of how often your blog has been visited as well as four primary menu tabs:

Dashboard - you won't typically use this tab; it's more for users who have access to wide range of admin functions
Write - you can use this to Write a Blog Post or Write a Page. What's the difference? Blog posts are displayed by date and show on the home page of the blog (depending on the date or tag filter defined). Blog pages do not show on the home page of the blog; instead, you must link to them directly through a blog post, a link in the sidebar, or via search results. This allows you to have multiple "pages" behind your post if you would like.
Manage - you will use this tab quite a bit to manage your posts, comments, files (like pictures), and tags
Configure - you will a few of these areas as you go through these steps - specifically, Blog Setup and Post Options.

3) Once you are in the Control Panel, there is an easy way to get back to the QCA site. Just look in the upper right hand corner and click on the Go to Blog or Go to Site links. Or you can Log Out.

Now that you know your way around the Control Panel, you are ready for the next step.

Click here fore Step Three: Rename Your Blog

Step Three: Rename Your Blog

2009-06-24T17:51:00Z

1) Go to your blog homepage and click on Control Panel

2) Click on Configure

3) Click on Blog Setup

4) Click on Title & Description tab (if you are not automatically there.)

5) Go to Your blog's title field - Your username is the default title of your blog until you change it. To change the name, type your preferred blog name into the space provided

6) If you'd like, you can also add a description of your blog in the Description field. It will show up in the blog list that users see when they click on Blog link at the top of each page

7) Be sure to click on SAVE in the lower right hand corner

8) When you're done, go back to your blog homepage to see the change take effect

Note: It may take a few minutes

Now you're ready to write your first post.

Step Four: Write a Post

2009-06-24T17:45:00Z

The easiest way to add a new post to your blog is to:

1) Go to your blog homepage. Look for the Shortcuts menu to the right of your blog.

2) Click on Write a New Post

NOTE: Does this look familiar? You should now be in the Control Panel in the Write tab

3) A new screen now appears that gives you a large space to enter a title and the body copy of your post. Type in the title of your post.

4) You can type your post directly into the body copy field and use the edit tools in in the menu bar between the title field and body copy field. You can bold, italicize underline, strikethrough, indent and add bullets by using these tools.

5) You can also copy and paste your text from another document or website. Instead of just copying and pasting directly into the body copy field, follow these steps instead to prevent formatting errors:

Copy the text you want to place in your post by highlighting it and hitting the Control key + C (at the same time),
Go back to your body copy field and click on the icon that looks like a clipboard with the Microsoft Word symbol next to it.

Note: If you move your mouse over the correct icon it will read "Paste from Word."

A new window will open. Paste your text into the space by hitting the CONTROL key + V (at the same time).
Your text should now be entered into the space. To add it to your blog post, select Insert.

6) Be sure to click on the Save and Continue Writing or Save, but don't Publish button on the bottom right corner. There are still a few more things you may want to add to your post before you hit the Publish button. For more details, go to the next step.

Step Five: Add a Picture, Video or Link to Your Post

2009-06-24T17:38:00Z

You can make your posts even more fun and engaging by knowing how to add pictures and links. And, it’s very easy!

Add a Picture to Your Post

With the option to add pictures, you now have the ability to showcase your work and personality in a more enjoyable way! Also, whenever you add a picture to your post it will show up in your post list on your blog homepage. It makes your posts much more visually inviting. If you insert multiple pictures to your post, the first one will be the one that shows up in the post list. To add a picture to your post:

1) In the body copy field of your post, put your cursor where you want the picture to be placed

2) Click on the Insert Media icon that looks like a film strip (it’s located in the same toolbar as the Bold, Italics, and Underline options). If you move your cursor over the icons, the correct icon will read Insert Media.

3) Since the majority of pictures used will be on your computer, select From Computer.

4) Then click on Browse. This will open an additional window to browse the documents on your computer.

5) Select the image you would like to post from your documents and select OPEN. By selecting Open the additional window will close and a file name will now appear in the space next to Browse.

6) To complete the process, select INSERT.

Add Video to Your Post

Have you either uploaded a quilting video to YouTube or found a video that you’d like to share in your blog? Here’s how to do it:

1) Go to YouTube and locate the homepage of the video you’d like to display in your post

2) Copy the code from the URL box on the video's YouTube page (usually in the upper right hand part of the page). Or right click on the video and select "Copy video URL" Make sure you have copied the entire code for a successful upload of the player.

3) Go back to the body copy field of your post and put the cursor where you want the video to appear

4) Click on the Insert Media icon,

5) Select From URL tab, and paste the URL code of the video into the field

6) Click Insert

Add a Link to Your Post

Note: This works in both blog posts, forum posts and comments.

You might want to include a link to another website in your blog post to guide other viewers to something you have found to be interesting or as a source for your post. There are two ways to do this.

1) Just copy and paste the url into your post. If it has been inserted correctly, it will change colors and become underlined after hitting the enter key.

2) Or you can turn specific words in your post into a link. (For an example, CLICK HERE). To achieve this same effect in your post, do this:

· First, write your post in the body copy field (remember to hit Save, but don’t Publish so you don’t lose your work)

· With your cursor, highlight the text you want to turn into a link

· When you do this, you’ll see the Insert/Edit link in your tool bar turn from gray to full color (it looks like a chain link)

· Click on the Insert/Edit link

· A box will open up that will allow you to type or paste a url into the Paste URL field

· In the Target drop down menu, select Open Link in a New Window

· Then click on Insert

Note: You can preview your post by clicking on the Preview tab above the title field.

Blogger’s Tip: When responding to another’s question via comments, it is nice to include a link to the source so that each member has the opportunity to read the original information.

Click here for Step Six: Edit or Delete Your Post

Step Six: Edit or Delete Your Post

2009-06-24T17:31:00Z

If you are already in the post you want to edit, the quickest way is to just click on the Edit Post link under Blog Management on the left hand side of your post. Once you edit your post, remember to click on Publish (one of other two Save options) otherwise the changes will not be saved.

If you want to go back and edit or delete any of your saved posts:

1) Go to your blog homepage and click on Control Panel
2) Click on the Manage tab
3) Click on Posts
4) A window will open which will give you a list of all of your saved posts
5) For each post, you will find buttons which will allow you to Edit or Delete the post
6) You can also see the number of Views each of your posts have received and the number of comments, as well

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions

Additional Blogging FAQs

2009-06-24T17:29:00Z

As we get more and more questions from you on the site regarding blogging, we'll try to post the most common questions with answers right here.

Can I share my blog with others outside of QCA?

You can share your blog with others outside of the QCA, but they will need to join as either a social or paid member to be able to read your blog.

Where do I find my blog's url?

Just click on Edit Profile on your member homepage. The first tab you see will be Profile Options. Scroll down until you get to blog. That's where your url is. You can copy and paste it into e-mails to others if you'd like them to know about it. Please be careful not to delete or alter it in that field, however, as it could cause your blog page not show up on the site.

How will people on the QCA site be able to find my blog?

There are a few ways.

If they click on the Blogs link in the upper menu bar, they will see a list of all blogs on the QCA site.
If they search for you and find your member profile, they can click on View Blog link in your profile box.
Each time publish a post, it will also show up under Blogs menu in the lower left side of each page for awhile (until it's pushed down by other posts)